Getzlaf scores hat trick in Ducks romp of Sabres

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Center Ryan Getzlaf said he was well overdue. Despite all of his accomplishments, Getzlaf had never produced a hat trick.
"Teemu (Selanne) said he had about 10 by the time he was my age," Getzlaf joked about the Finnish right winger.
The Anaheim captain, in his ninth season, earned his first one in the opening period, leading the Anaheim Ducks to a 6-2 romp over the Buffalo Sabres before crowd of 15,577 at the Honda Center on Friday night.
Getzlaf became only the fifth Anaheim player to score three goals in a period and the second to produce four points in one. Selanne was the last to score three goals in the first Nov. 10, 1997, against San Jose, while forward Vinny Prospal registered the last four-point period for the Ducks in 2004 against Minnesota.
Getzlaf, who was in a light mood after the game, was relieved to have his string end. He shifted the pressure to left winger Dustin Penner, who is still seeking his first.
"The joke's over. Now the joke's on 'Pens,'" said Getzlaf, who leads the Ducks in points with 22, which is tied for second in the league.
Although Penner is still waiting for his first three-goal game, he was quite productive against the Sabres. He had a goal and three assists, two of them setting up Getzlaf for goals. He continued the slapstick comedy initiated by his teammate.
"That was on Getzlaf and now it's clearly on my shoulders. It weighs heavily," said Penner with a laugh.
Center Andrew Cogliano and defenseman Cam Fowler also scored for the Ducks (14-3-1), who extended their home winning streak to a franchise-best seven games. They also remained atop of the NHL with 29 points. Buffalo (3-15-1), the NHL's worst club with seven points, lost for the second night in a row, falling to the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday night.
Anaheim goaltender Frederik Andersen, who has won all five of his starts, stopped 25 shots, while Buffalo's Ryan Miller managed 28 saves before being replaced by Jhonas Enroth in the third.
"We got in the box early and they had a couple of power plays right off the bat," Buffalo coach Ron Rolston said.
"They're a great team," Sabres center Cody Hodgson said. "We didn't have a good start and they capitalized on it."
Two power-play goals got Anaheim off and running in the opening 10 minutes. After Buffalo defenseman Nikita Zadorov was sent to the penalty box for boarding at 1:57 of the first period, Getzlaf rebounded a miss by Fowler and scored 14 seconds into the power play for a 1-0 Ducks' lead.
Fowler made it 2-0 when he nailed a wrist shot from behind the right circle at 9:53, just 31 seconds after center Cody McCormick was penalized for hooking. Fowler has scored in back-to-back games.
Buffalo cut the lead to 2-1 when rookie center Mikhail Grigorenko gathered a loose puck outside the crease and snuck it past Andersen at 13:26 of the first. It was the first goal for the 19-year-old Grigorenko, the Sabres' first-round pick (12th overall) in the 2012 entry draft.
Grigorenko added a goal at 13:09 of the second.
Getzlaf scored again at 16:29, rifling a shot over the right shoulder of Miller for a 3-1 advantage. The Ducks poured it on from that point.
The Anaheim captain completed the hat trick with 20 seconds remaining in the period when he converted a pass from right winger Corey Perry, who had two assists, for a 4-1 Ducks' lead.
Penner, who has three goals this season after scoring just two last season with the Kings, and Cogliano provided second-period goals.
"They were dominant tonight," Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau said of Getzlaf, Penner and Perry. "There was no doubt. You could tell, as soon as he started skating that Ryan was great."
NOTES: The Ducks are the only NHL club with a perfect mark at home. ... Ducks RW Teemu Selanne played his 1,400 NHL game, joining D Nicklas Lidstrom and RW Jaromir Jagr as the only European players to achieve the milestone. ... Sabres LW John Scott was eligible to come off suspension Friday, but was scratched. Scott was suspended seven games Oct. 23 for a head shot on RW Loui Eriksson of the Boston Bruins. ... The Ducks outshot the Sabres 22-7 in the opening period. ... Buffalo has given up a 26-3 goal differential in first periods. The Sabres also have allowed the opposition to score first in 17 of their 19 contests. ... The Sabres will host the Los Angeles Kings in their next outing Tuesday. ... Anaheim will meet the Vancouver Canucks on Sunday before embarking on a four-game road trip beginning Tuesday against the Florida Panthers